Gaikokujin no Naku Koro ni
by Skyler25
Summary: [When Foreigners Cry] [Inspired by Reincarnations by Ayumi Elric] Skye and her friends are sucked in Hinamizawa! How will Keiichi and his friends react when they try to save them from their horrible fates? What will be their fate?
1. Touchakuhen Part 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni or any of the characters, and probably never will. The world is a sad, sad place my friend. I mean, I don't even own the anime DVD I talk about in the story. It's made up… However, in order to brighten up all of your dreary, dreary lives, I own Skye. Katsumi belongs to my friend, and Kira belongs to my other friend.

Yay! After much delay, the long anticipated (?) Higurashi fanfic thing is here (at the time that I'm writing this, I still don't have a title DX)! This sight needs more Higurashi, and since I've recently become obsessed with it, more Higurashi it is! Yay!

See, none of my friends watch Higurashi, so it was very difficult getting people to participate in this story. Some didn't even watch anime (the horror!). So, yeah, after much delay, here it is!

Note: If I could make this fic labeled with every genre, I would. It's really a mix of things- a LOT of things…just read. .

--

_Touchaku-hen_

(Arrival Chapter)

"Voila!" I said, throwing back the large doors of the closet. "Behold! My anime DVD collection!"

My magnificent collection was met with silence. "Well?"

"Skye-chan, that's only one DVD," Kira, a young, 12-year-old girl with shortish brown hair said.

"It's still a collection! You'll see! One day, this whole closet will be full!" I fought back. Katsumi, a 14-year-old girl with long black hair stepped forward and picked up the DVD.

"What's this?" she asked. "Higurashi no Naku Koro ni? What's that?"

"Only a _really_ awesome anime!" I squealed, the very thought of anime dashing my anger away. "It's all about…stuff."

"Stuff?" Kira said. "Wow. Really descriptive, Skye-chan."

I gave her a playful glare, then led my two friends over to a TV. "Let's just watch it. It's the only one we can watch…"

"Skye-chan…maybe we should just go to bed. It's late," complained Kira.

"Oh, I see," I said, giggling. "You're just tired because your body is so small, isn't that right, Kira-chan?"

Kira snapped awake. "I-I'm not small! Let's watch Higurashi! We can stay up all night if you want!"

"Okay then," I said. "Higurashi it is."

--

"Katsumi-chan!" I said, tugging her sleeve. "Look- Kira-chan fell asleep!"

"Awww," Katsumi replied. "Her face is so much more peaceful than when she's awake."

I laughed, then gasped. "Shhh!" I hissed. "Mion is about to…!"

We both watched in horror and suspense as Mion prepared to stick nails in Keiichi's various joints, and then the screen went red.

"She killed him!" Katsumi gasped. "That was so gruesome…"

"I know! I'm gonna have nightmares for weeks!"

"I thought it was worse when Keiichi scratched out his-"

"Ew! No, don't remind me!" I put my hands over my throat and trembled. "Maybe we should go to bed now…" I murmured as I tried to block out the thought of Keiichi's bloodstained hands.

"Aw, c'mon," Katsumi begged. "Let's watch one more episode. It's the last one on this DVD."

I sighed. "Okay, fine, but just one, I'm getting tired. It's really late…" I yawned, and Katsumi yawned too as she pressed the play button on the DVD player.

--

The next morning, when I woke up, Kira and Katsumi were gone. I yawned, my eyes still heavy with sleep, as Katsumi walked into the room.

"Oh, Skye-chan, you're up," she said, sitting down next to me on the floor. "I made you some breakfast." She handed me a plate with rice and a bowl with miso soup.

"Woah!" I gasped, looking at what she had prepared. "Where did you get this, Katsumi-chan?"

She gave me a confused look. "It was in your fridge, under saran rap. I just heated it up."

"That's weird. The last time I had Japanese takeout in the fridge was…never. We've only had Chi-"

I stopped short and glanced around. As the veil of sleep lifted and I began to think more clearly, I took in my surroundings. The walls were an off-white color, and all of the doors were the kind that slide back and forth instead of opening. I looked down. What I had been sitting and sleeping on wasn't my bedroom carpet, but a tatami mat.

"Katsumi-chan…? This isn't my house…"

"Well, I thought it looked kind of different, but, maybe it was just the lighting…"

"Katsumi-chan, I know my house, and this is _not_ my house."

Suddenly, I stood up and walked over to a window, pulling the drapes apart. I gaped. "Does that look like our neighborhood to you?" I asked.

Katsumi stared too. "That doesn't even look like America."

I opened the window and peered out, looking around. "I know this place," I said quietly.

At that moment, Kira burst into the room. "You guys," she half-screamed, her voice wild with excitement. "We're in an anime-"

"Hinamizawa."

"What?"

"Where's that?" asked Katsumi.

"Hinamizawa. You know, that weird anime town. The one from Higurashi, the anime we were watching last night."

--

Gawd, this chapter is short. I promise, the next one will be longer.


	2. Touchakuhen Part 2

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, or any of the characters, and I own Skye, and Katsumi belongs to my friend and Kira to my other friend. Gawd, these things get really tiresome to type out.

If this chapter is ridiculously delayed, I'm so sorry. As I'm writing this, it's 12:21 AM on December 8, 2007, and FF is having a serious malfunction. Every time that I try to log in, search, even create a new account (which I thought I would have to do because my account is spazzing so much), it brings up the dictionary page and searches for the definition of "word." FOR GOD'S SAKE, I KNOW WHAT A WORD IS!

Also, some of my stories are spazzing, for instance, this one, and whenever you try to click on them, you get this "cannot find story" thing that gets really annoying. So if this is ridiculously delayed, don't blame me!

If you're reading this, that means that FF decided to be nice again! Yay!

**Note: When writing full names, I write them traditional Japanese style, last name first.**

--

"Hinamizawa?" Katsumi repeated. "That's impossible. We must be dreaming. _I _must be dreaming."

"We can't be. If we were dreaming, it wouldn't even cross our minds that we were dreaming," I said, automatically resigning myself to living in Hinamizawa.

"We're not dreaming," Kira said quietly. She seemed to be her normal dreary self, but there was a hint of excitement in her voice.

"Well, then, there has to be a way that we can get back," Katsumi said. "I mean, we can't live here forever. If this really is Hinamizawa, that means there's going to be a Keiichi-san and a Mion-san and a Rena-san and everyone else. Our lives are going to be in danger. We have to find a way to go back."

Kira paused. The silence hung heavily in the air. "Go back?" she finally whispered. "Go back? How could you want to go back? Finally, something interesting has happened, and you want to _go back_?"

"Well-" Katsumi began, but Kira cut her off.

"Weren't you bored back there? Weren't you waiting for something interesting to happen? Every day was the same- wake up, breakfast, school, lunch, more school, homework, dinner, more homework, sleep. I was waiting. Now something's finally happened, and you want to _go back_?"

I gaped. Kira had always been quiet and mostly kept to herself. Now her voice was filled with a mixture of disgust, anger, and longing.

"Kira-chan…" I started, and then realized I had nothing to say.

"Kira-chan, I-I was just joking," Katsumi said with a little laugh. "I-"

"No, it's okay," Kira said. "I just had to have an angst moment." She smiled the tiniest bit.

A sweatdrop rolled down my face. "Because you're angsty like that, right, Ki-chan?" Suddenly, I gasped. "Ki-chan! Aww, that's so cute!"

Kira growled. "No! No cute nicknames!"

Katsumi laughed. "That totally works for you, Ki-chan." She giggled at the sound of it. "Yeah! And if we meet characters from Higurashi, Mion-san can be Mi-chan, Keiichi-san can be Kei-chan, Shion-san can be Shi-chan, and Rika-san can be Ri-chan!"

We laughed while Kira pouted, unaware of what an ordeal meeting those "characters" would really be.

--

Hinamizawa or not, it was still Monday, June 1st, and in accordance with the law, we had to go to a school of some kind. Luckily, Katsumi found some uniforms in a closet ("This house really has everything, doesn't it?"), and Kira found some suitcases lying in the hallway ("Apparently, yes.").

Since there was only one tiny lame school in Hinamizawa, we had no choice as to go there. With a sense of foreboding (would YOU want to attend the same school- no, be in the same CLASS with an insane killer like Mion or Rena?), we made our way down the dirt path to school, using landmarks like the bridge and the junkyard to find our way.

"While we're here," I said, glancing around furtively to be sure no one was listening (Gawd, I'm already getting paranoid), "We should go over some things that we should keep in mind."

"Okay," said Katsumi.

"Mm," said Kira.

"Okay, first off, remember, Maebara Keiichi-san is basically the main character…er, person. Do you think we should refer to them as characters?"

"Nah, that's not really fair to them. Let's call them 'Hinamizawa people,'" Katsumi suggested.

"But now we're kind of 'Hinamizawa people'" too," said Kira.

"What about 'People from Higurashi?'" Katsumi tried.

"Nah, too long," Kira said.

"Maybe we should just stick with 'characters,' for the sake or clarity," I sighed, wanting to move on.

"Works for me," said Katsumi, and Kira nodded.

"Okay," I said. "So as I was saying, Maebara Keiichi-san is the main 'character.' So, we should probably try to stay on his good side, lest he beats us to death with a baseball bat."

Katsumi and Kira seemed to agree, so I continued.

"Ryuuga Rena-san is sweet and cute, but she's an insane killer or something like that, and she has a bull-hook cleaver, so let's try to stay on her side too. Also, we can't talk about Oyashiro-sama around her, because she seems to be really sensitive about that.

"Sonozaki Mion-san seems nice and lotsa fun, and she probably is when she's not driving nails into Keiichi-san's various joints while being possessed by a demon, so…be nice to her and stuff. We can worry about Shion-san later, assuming that we're starting where the series started off.

"Hojo Satoko-san is…evil, but in a different way. She just likes to tease people, I guess, but her brother Satoshi went emo or something and abandoned her, so we should try to be nice.

"And from what I can tell, Furude Rika-san is the only one with really, really, good intentions. Like, trying to save people and stuff. Plus, she's adorable and stuff.

"Oh, and guys?" I said, standing still.

Katsumi and Kira, who were walking slightly ahead, stopped as well and turned around. "Yeah?"

"I think we should try and help whoever is the 'victim' in each arc. Y'know, save their lives and stuff. I mean, as lovely as the thought of Keiichi-san scratching out his throat and getting nails driven through his various joints sounds…" I trailed off. "Oh! The nail thing! You fell asleep during that part, didn't you, Kira-chan?"

Kira was silent for a moment, and then spoke up. "Katsumi-chan, I'm going to kill you for that comment about me looking peaceful in my sleep," was the response.

Katsumi sweatdropped. "I think we should try and save Keiichi-san and the other… victim people. As apposed to just sitting around and trying to live an as-normal-as-possible life here."

"When you put it that way, I'm in," Kira said.

"So, assuming that we're starting off in the first arc, I guess we're going to have to-"

"Skye-chan." Katsumi cut me off. She was shaking a little bit. Kira seemed to be laughing a little bit.

"What?" I said. "Did you guys stick a 'kick me' sign on my back?"

"No…it's worse," Katsumi said, her eyes focused on something behind me.

"You stuck a 'kiss me' sign on my-"

"No. I think you'd just better look behind you."

"What?" I said, turning around. "Is there- OH MY G- AHHHHHHH!" I shrieked, toppling over backwards.

Standing in front of me were Keiichi, Mion, Rena, Satoko and Rika, all looking down at me with a curious look on their faces. A million thoughts rushed through my head, including but not limited to "Keiichi-san is much cuter when you see him face to face!"

I jumped up quickly, dusting myself off and flushing red from embarrassment. I stepped back so I was right alongside Kira and Katsumi, who were staring at Keiichi and his friends. They stared back. There was a great amount of staring.

"Skye-chan, go break the ice!" Katsumi hissed. "If we just keep standing here staring, we're going to be late for school!"

She pushed me forward, and I blushed from embarrassment. "I…um…hi, I guess."

This bold attempt at introduction was met with more confused stares. Keiichi looked like his brain was about to implode.

Suddenly, I was struck by a brilliant idea, and walked over to Rika. I smiled at her, and she just looked confused. Then, I grabbed her two cheeks and pulled them upward in an attempt to make her smile.

"Nipa!" I said, smiling as well.

Silence. Katsumi and Kira stared. Keiichi and his friends stared. Rika stared.

Please, I silently begged. First impressions are important! Say something, Rika-san, or they'll write me off as a total weirdo!

Thankfully, after a moment or two of looking very lost in thought, Rika smiled naturally, grabbed my cheeks, and pulled them apart. "Nipa!" she said happily, and it was the cutest moment of my life.

After that, everything went smoothly. Mion came forward and introduced herself and her friends, as well as explaining that none of her friends except for her spoke English, only Japanese. She, however, was at the top of her English class, and the oldest, so she was fluent.

My heart sank. How were we going to save Keiichi and anyone else if we couldn't even speak their language? The best I could do was communicate through "Nipa!" to Rika, and speak English with Mion. Anyone else, I would have to use hand gestures or something.

"Well, come on everybody," Mion said, continuing to walk. "We're going to be late for school if we don't hurry up!"

--

Yay! As I'm finishing this it's December 9, 2007, and FF is up and running again! All malfunctions have been fixed, I think…O.O;

--

**Review Answers**

**Teh Future Mrs. Kyo- **Yay! XD Yeah, if my fic seems weird for now, it'll get better soon, I promise! The first chapter was like...just introducing the OCs and stuff...and yeah.

**Kira35- **(already replied to this one XD)


	3. Touchakuhen Part 3

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing except for Skye. Nothing else in this story is mine…not even that anime DVD from a while ago…that was just imaginary…And I don't own Borders.

Gah, I'm so bored and I think I'm getting sick…like…with sickness DX I was so bored and sick-feeling that I decided to write this…moooo… And it's December 14, 2007…just to give you an idea of how lazy I've been lately;

Blah blah blah I'm so bored and if you're still reading this and not reading the story yet then you must be bored too! XD

--

Communicating was not as difficult as I thought it would be. It was even more difficult.

On top of being unable to speak or understand anybody, there was also the problem of being completely illiterate in Japanese. There were certain characters that I could recognize because they had been in anime names before, but Katsumi, Kira and I couldn't read any actual words.

"So, are you transfer students?" Mion asked while I was busy studying a sign with one familiar character in it.

"Huh?" I said, jumping and looking up at her. Waaay up at her, since I'm kinda small.

"Well, you're obviously not from Japan," she said, looking waaay down at me. I felt even smaller than I actually was. "Are you foreign transfer students? I didn't know our school let transfer students in this late in the year."

I don't know if it does either! I thought frantically. If it didn't, how could we explain our reason (or lack thereof) of being here?

"I-" I started, but was cut off by Katsumi.

"No, we're not transfer students, formally, at least," Katsumi said. "We recently moved here from the United States. Do you think that your school will let us transfer in?"

"I don't know. If not this year, definitely next!" Mion said cheerily. She and Katsumi started to chat pleasantly while I slowly inched away, awed that Katsumi could carry on friendly conversation with a Keiichi-killer-to-be.

I shifted uncomfortably and shuffled towards Kira, who was walking along quietly. The whole situation was very awkward. Everyone felt our presence, yet didn't know what to say.

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I sighed instead and decided to concentrate on walking, but soon felt something tugging on my sleeve. I looked down and saw Rika was there, looking concerned.

"Nipa!" she said, when she had my attention, and pulled my face into a smile. Any uneasiness I had felt before melted away, and I laughed, saying "Nipa!" through giggles.

--

"Well, this is it," Mion said, gesturing toward the school. It looked exactly like it did in the anime, and I struggled to contain my excitement.

"I'll go ask Chie-sensei if you can join our class," Mion said, running into the building while shouting something in Japanese over her shoulder.

"Mi!" Rika squealed in response, then grabbed Kira's sleeve and half-drabbed her into the building. Kira screamed something about "THE CUTENESS, IT BURNS!" but allowed herself to be led inside anyway. Rena and Katsumi followed.

Keiichi started to follow, then realized I was not moving. He stopped and turned around, and our eyes met. I looked at him, taking in every detail of his face, his hair, his clothes, everything. There was something about him that made me automatically trust and like him, something about him that made me really not want him to die. Well, I didn't want anyone to die, but him in particular.

On impulse, I skipped forward, grabbed his arm, and pulled him towards the building, feeling suddenly very, very hyper.

--

I groaned, staring at the piece of paper before me. Chie-sensei was happy to let us join her class, and her welcome gift to us was a math test. I looked over at Katsumi and Kira, who had already finished their tests. How did they do it?

Chie-sensei called out something in Japanese that apparently meant something along the lines of "pencils down," as everyone was putting down their pencils. She started collecting the tests, still talking, and Mion explained that she was saying that we could pick up our tests at the end of the day.

The end of the day could not come soon enough. Lessons passed in a blur, and by the time the last bell rang, I was ready die. Academically, not physically, just to be clear.

My returned math test sported an 85 percent- not the percent I was wishing for, but at least I had passed. Shrugging, I sat down next to Katsumi and Kira, who were chatting with Mion while Keiichi and the other non-English speaking people were talking amongst themselves.

"How did you do?" Kira asked, looking over her test.

"85." I sighed, flipping through mine. "It's hard to do when it's all in a different language."

"Huh?" Katsumi said, looking up from her test. "What do you mean?"

"Katsumi-chan and I both got perfect 100s," Kira explained, holding up her test.

"But…how…?"

"Math is math, no matter what language it's in," Katsumi said, holding up her test. "It's just numbers."

"How are you people so smart?" I groaned, while Katsumi, Kira, and Mion (why Mion too…?) laughed.

"I'm sure you'll get it eventually," Mion said. "By the way, would you like to join our club? We were only going to let Kei-chan join today, but we could let you join if you want."

So this IS the first arc, I thought. "Okay, sure, we'd love to-"

"Sorry, we've got something to do today," Kira said, grabbing my arm in an offhand way of suggesting that we had to leave. I was bewildered. What did we have to do?

Katsumi looked confused too, but quickly caught on. "Yeah," she said. "Sorry, maybe another time."

"Oh, that's fine," Mion said, then quickly explained to her friends in Japanese. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Katsumi and Kira said, waving goodbye while dragging me away.

--

"So what exactly are we doing?" I asked. Kira, Katsumi and I were walking along the path home.

"Katsumi-chan and I were discussing some stuff when we finished the math test early," Kira said, and I grumbled about the math test. "We decided that before we do anything else, we have to learn to speak Japanese."

"Why?" I asked. "I mean, we seem to be getting along well enough with Mion. Why do we have to bother?"

Kira gave me the "look." "Why does a fish have to learn how to swim?" she asked.

"'Cause it does?"

"No, you idiot, because it needs to survive. And _we_ have to learn Japanese to survive here. If Rena-san comes after us with a cleaver, how can we call for help?"

"We won't be able to protect ourselves, let along Keiichi-san," Katsumi added.

"Okay, okay, I get it. So how exactly are we going to learn Japanese?"

"I bought one of those Learn Japanese in a Short Amount of Time books at Borders back before…this…thing…happened.," Kira said. "But there's only one, so we'll have to share."

"Instead of us learning Japanese, why can't they learn English?" I grumbled under my breath, but was silently agreeing.

--

"Katsumi-chan, look!" I said, pointing. Kira had been studying for several hours straight, refusing to share the book with Katsumi when asked. "Kira-chan fell asleep…again."

"Well, it is midnight. She's been studying since we got home." Katsumi, who had been sitting on a pillow, stood up and gently removed the book from Kira's hands. "I guess she fell asleep because she's so small. Now we can finally use the book."

Kira frowned and stirred in her sleep, but didn't wake up.

Katsumi leafed through the Learn Japanese in a Short Amount of Time book, then stopped on one page in awe. "Looks like we're going to have to rely on Mion and Kira for communications," she said.

"Why?" I asked. "Is there something wrong with the book?"

"Well, not wrong, per say, but it's all in Russian and Japanese," Katsumi said. "I guess that's why she wouldn't let us borrow it. It wouldn't have been any use anyway."

I flopped down onto the tatami mat. "Well, that sucks. I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight," Katsumi said, opening the Learn Japanese in a Short Amount of Time book to page one and trying to read.

--

If you thought that this chapter was boring, you're probably right, but keep reading and trust me that it will get better. If you thought that any honorific titles were incorrectly used, please tell me, I'm always looking to better my very limited not-Japanese.

--

**Review Answers**

**Teh Future Mrs. Kyo Sohma- **YEEESSS! That's exactly the response I wanted for that line! Yay, you've totally made my day!

**Ayumi Elric- **Inspired by Reincarnations, not exactly based on it. Still, if it wasn't for you, this would never have happened. If this turns out to be really bad, you're probably gonna regret writing Reincarnations XD; So, that's why I have to make it good! XD

**Kira35- **Alright, alright, I'm writing, see? Seeeee? Can you see my fingers moving over the keyboard? ME WRITE!


	4. Touchakuhen Part 4

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything. Keiichi, Mion, Rena, Satoko, Rika…none of them are mine. Not even Kira or Katsumi. But I own Skye. Yayz.

Yay! Since the time I posted chapter 3, I've gotten an uber idea, gotten sick, missed school, emoed, finished Higurashi (and it was frickin' awesome), gotten sicker, emoed more, and developed fangirl syndrome for Yagami Raito and let me just tell you, I feel greaaat:D

Get ready for Chapter 4! This is where the real good stuff happens…and when I say that, I mean it this time! Honest!

**If you don't know who Hanyu is, stop reading this instant and go watch more Higurashi, seriously, unless you like spoilers :D**

--

The next morning, I was awakened by the bright sun filtering in through a window. I yawned, my eyes heavy with sleep, and looked up at the clock.

"Ngh…" I half-groaned, half-yawned. "We're going to be late…" I looked around. Through my sleepy daze, I noticed that Katsumi and Kira were gone and were already eating breakfast. Sleepily, my legs weak and tired, I got up and stumbled toward the bathroom.

Rubbing my eyes, I looked in the mirror, and I almost had a heart attack.

"W-whaaat?" I screamed, glaring at my reflection. "This…this…what is this? Kira-chan, is this some joke?" I asked, pulling at the new appendages on my head. "They don't come off!"

For near the top of my straight black hair were two droopy, beige puppy ears.

I burst out of the bathroom, running into the kitchen where Kira and Katsumi were eating. My face was flustered from shock, I was still in a nightgown, and my hair was a mess.

"You guys," I gasped, my hands still on the kitty ears. "Something…I mean…I got…"

"Oh," Kira said, unperturbed. "You got puppy ears." It was then that I noticed that Kira sported a pair of orange kitty ears and Katsumi, a pair of orange fox ears.

"What the-? Aren't you in the least bit…don't you…?" I began, but was cut off by Katsumi.

"To put it nicely, you'd better go into the bedroom and shut the door," she said, turning me around and pushing me back into the bedroom.

"Yeah, I don't want breakfast to be interrupted by her screaming," Kira said, not looking up from her breakfast.

--

For a while, nothing happened. I sat on the tatami mat and reflected on everything that had happened in the past 10 or so minutes. I was just wondering how it was that Kira, Katsumi and I had suddenly become kemonomimi (people with animal features) overnight when I heard a female voice.

"Uh…hi. You're Skye-chan, right?" said the voice (duh).

I made a noise that sounded like something along the lines of a squeak and jumped up, grabbing a mop and brandishing it as a weapon. "Who's there?" I yelled at the room.

"Um…Kaori."

"Kaori?"

"Yes. Wow, is this really our first time speaking? Because…because I feel like I've known you…for…" Whoever was speaking sounded like she was finally meeting a famous person whom she had admired for a long time.

"As much as I love writing about disembodied voices, it's really creepy actually talking to one. Would it kill you to-"

"Ah! I'm sorry," said the voice, and a semi-transparent girl appeared in front of me.

She had short, redish-brown hair tied back in a low, tiny ponytail, but the majority of her hair hung in front of her forehead in large, uneven bangs. She had beige puppy ears, the same as mine, coming out of the sides of her head. She had bright blue eyes- the same color as mine, and she was wearing a miko outfit.

"Hi," she said.

"Um…hi," I said.

"I'm-" she began, but I cut her off.

"Wait a sec," I said, motioning for her to stop. "Give me a second to absorb the weirdness here." I closed my eyes and inhaled a breath, then sighed. "Okay, I'm good. So, what did you want to tell me?"

"My name is Akakawa Kaori, and I-"

"Akakawa?" I gasped. "That's my last name too!"

"I know, and that's not a coincidence. Skye-chan, I've been following you around since you were born, but you've never been able to see me until now. I guess it has something to do with Hinamizawa…"

"Well that's all good and nice," I said, my hands going to my head, "but how can you explain these?" I uneasily petted my puppy ears.

"Oh, that. Skye, I'd like to ask you a favor," Kaori said, looking guilty. "I can't keep following you around like this. There's something weird in the air here that makes me _very_ uncomfortable." She shifted uneasily. "I think you call it…Oyashiro-sama?"

"Nn," I said, nodded, and she continued.

"I'd be very grateful if you'd let me share your body with you," she said bluntly.

I gaped. "W-what? How does _that_ work?!"

"I know you've heard about Hanyuu," Kaori explained. "It would be pretty much the same as that, just substitute 'Rika' for 'Skye' and 'a god' for 'Kaori.'"

"So, you're a god?"

"I guess some would call me that, but really, it won't be very dramatic. I'll just sleep, dormant within you, while you go about as normal. There's only one time I'll need to be awake, and that'll be the night of the Watanagashi festival. That night, after sunset, we'll just switch places until sunrise the next day."

I flinched. "That's kind of creepy. You do know that the Watanagashi festival is next week, right? So I'll only have a week to adjust to this? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Kaori sighed. "I'm sorry. I thought it would be too much of a shock to tell you on your very first day here…"

I sighed. Silence followed for a few moments.

"So will you let me? Share your body, I mean," Kaori said quietly.

"I dunno," I said. "Why can't you just follow me around? Like…like…Hanyuu follows Rika?"

"If I do that, I'll only cause more trouble," she said, sighing. "The fact that Hanyuu's footsteps could be heard, but that she could not be seen contributed to a lot of people's paranoia. And you want to help everyone, right?"

I couldn't disagree. "What you described before…that's it? I'll just go on as normal until the Watanagashi festival?"

"Well, there may be some side effects, like the puppy ears, and you'll start knowing Japanese…"

"I'm in."

"Huh?"

"Obviously Kira and Katsumi have already agreed to do this with their guardian spirit god thingies, as I can tell by their animal ears, and I don't want to miss out on being able to finally communicate with people other than Mion. Okay, so let's do this."

Kaori smiled. "Thank you," she said, and faded away.

"What?" I looked around frantically. "That's it?" I didn't feel any different than before.

But then I realized- bits and pieces of Japanese that I had learned through watching anime suddenly made a whole lot of sense. Snippits of words that only made sense on their own fit together to make sentences. I started pacing around the room, so absorbed in my new knowledge.

Unfortunately, I didn't look where I was going, and walked straight into a wall.

Something symbolic in that. I'll think about it and get back to you later.

--

"Hauuuuu!" Rena cried, glomping Kira. We were walking to school with her, as well as Mion, Rika, Satoko, and Keiichi. "I wanna take you home! You're so cuuuuuuuute!"

Kira's new kitty ears were going over well, apparently.

"The cuteness! It burns!" screamed Kira, struggling. "Skye-chan, Katsumi-chan! Aren't you going to do anything?"

"I dunno…" I half-sang, looking at the sky while Katsumi gently urged Rena to let go of Kira.

"Y'know, Skye-san," Keiichi said, falling into step with me, "It's pretty impressive how you all suddenly learned Japanese in one night. How did you do it?"

Well, Keiichi-san, actually, we learned it all this morning because Hanyu-like god-girls started sharing bodies with us. "I guess we just studied hard."

Keiichi laughed and patted me on the head. I _could_ tell him that he should avoid doing that, particularly with Satoko, but then again, that was for another arc.

--

-hands out cookies that say "sorry it took so long to update"- n.n;

--

**Review Answers**

**Teh Future Mrs. Kyo Sohma- **If only you knew…X3

**Kira35- **Meh, sometimes I have to mangle the facts or the story eats itself. Don't take it too seriously XD

**TaiyakinoNaku- **Mwahaha…yesh XD

**Icydragon14- **Thank you :D –twirls-


	5. Paranoiahen Part 1

Disclaimer: I, Skyler25, don't own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, related characters, trademarks, etc. in any way, shape, or form (or color, if it matters). I do own the plot of this fanfic and the character Skye Akakawa. Kira and Katsumi belong to my friends, and they are used with permission.

Yep, I've pretty much given up on the whole witty disclaimer thing. X3 Just as long as I don't get sued…

Yay! My writer's block has gone away! XD Yeah, for the past 2 chapters or so I've had writer's block…DX It's so obvious when I do…none of my writing flows smoothly or anything and the plots suck…and I update really sloowllyyy… Blah, well, luckily, it's gone now, so hopefully you can expect updates a little faster…but don't get your hopes up, since I'm lazy XD

Also…according to my online translator, they don't have a word in Japanese for paranoia, they just use the English word…sooo…yeah…

--

_Paranoia-hen_

(Paranoia Chapter)

"Hey, Skye-chan," Mion called out to me. Kira, Katsumi, and I were about to return home after school. "Would you like to join our club today?"

I blinked. "Uh…sure!" I said. Kira and Katsumi followed me over to the table around which Mion and the others were sitting.

"So…uh…what kind of club is this exactly?" asked Katsumi.

"We just play games," said Rika.

"But you have to pass an entrance exam first!" Mion said energetically.

"Sounds good," I said, taking a seat next to Keiichi. "What's the entrance exam?"

"Um…you have to do my math homework!" Mion said, hurriedly shoving several sheets of paper at Kira, Katsumi, and me.

"What the- that's not a game!" Keiichi protested, but I smiled.

"It's okay. Kira-chan will have it done before-"

"Done." Kira shoved the papers at Mion.

--

"I had a lot of fun today," Rika said to me. Kira, Katsumi, and I had parted ways with almost everyone else after playing club games, but Rika had decided to follow us home. "Are you sure you can find your way home without help?"

"Yeah," I said. "We did it yesterday, we'll be fine."

"Okay. Nippa!" Rika said, beaming.

I laughed. "I mean, after all, how could we help you change destiny if we couldn't even find our way home?"

Rika gasped, looking up at me. "Mii! W-what did you just say?"

Snap. Curse you, my big mouth! Curse you! "Uh…I said…nothing! D-don't take me too seriously, I talk to myself all the time! Ahaha…" Yeah, really convincing, I know.

"Mii." Rika looked disappointed. "I thought so."

I sighed. I hated disappointing her like this, but we couldn't tell her about our plan just yet. If we did, she may try to take action to help us too suddenly, and that would only hurt us.

"Hey, Rika-chan," Kira said, turning towards the young blue-haired girl. "Shouldn't we…part ways here?" She paused, then added hastily, "I just don't want you to get too far from home. Thanks for walking us back, though!"

Rika nodded. "Mii. I understand. Bye, everyone!" She took off.

I waved her off, then turned to Kira. "Why'd you shoo her away?" I asked, almost scoldingly.

Kira flinched, even though my tone wasn't that harsh. It was then that I noticed she was sweating, and a nervous look haunted her eyes. "Hey," I said softly. "I didn't mean-"

"No," Kira said, her voice almost a whisper. "It's okay." She paused and swallowed. "I sent Rika-chan away for a reason." Kira turned to me. "Didn't you notice? She was acting…creepy. All dark and…just…creepy."

"Huh." I shrugged, thinking back on the talk we had. "Nnnn…nope. I didn't think she was acting different at all."

Kira looked distraught for a moment, as if she were about to protest, and I armed myself (mentally) for a heated debate. However, a look of uncharacteristic resignation suddenly came over her. "I must have just imagined it," she said, so quietly I could barely hear her.

I shoved our conversation to the back of my mind and ran forward to catch up with Katsumi. As I ran, however, I heard Kira murmur behind me, "You were acting creepy too, Skye-chan…"

--

THE PLOT IS FINALLY HEREEEEE!!!!! YAAAAAAAAAY! And my writer's block is gone! –twirls-

Woah, this is weird…it's only 2.5 pages on MS Word…but in my notebook, the chapter is…-counts- 5 pages. O.O; I guess I write big…

Gawd, I have to fit Katsumi-chan in here more. She's never in any of the intense, important-to-the-plot conversations…DX

--

**Review Answers**

**Ayumi Elric- **Yayz, you reviewed! –twirls- Yay waffles! XD Yes…the plot is coming, slowly but surely…honestly, I started this story on a whim…sooo…I had writer's block for a while, but now, I have a good idea for the plot X3 And yay, you're another Raito fangirl! -twirls…again- I'm so happy I found another one, since everyone likes L…-.-

**Teh Future Mrs. Kyo Sohma- **Zomgz…we do share a mind O.O I thought the exact same thing about the puppy ears…O.O

**Icydragon14- **X3 Kira actually says that in real life…sooo…yeah, wasn't exactly my idea XD Still, glad you liked. n.n

**TaiyakinoNaku- **XD Take your time n.n


	6. Paranoiahen Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, related characters, trademarks, etc. in any way, shape, form, or color. Skye is my own character and therefore I have the rights to her. Kira and Katsumi belong to my friends and are being used with permission.

Uhh…I also don't own Death Note…

Sorry this is late…and stuff... Does anyone even read these things anyway?

--

"Hey, Kira-chan!" Katsumi called. "What're we doing for dinner?"

Kira got up from where she was writing at the table. "I'll make it."

"You can't cook," I said, entering the room. "I'll do it, I'm good with spaghetti."

"No…" Kira said quietly. "I'll do it."

Well _this_ was something out of the ordinary. "Since when are you so eager to help?" I asked.

"Because…if you do it, something like last night will happen…" she trailed off, shivering.

The night before, Katsumi had made hamburgers. Kira had decided to eat in her room.

"What?" Katsumi said, coming in from the bedroom. "What was wrong with my cooking?"

By now, Kira was shaking noticeably, and her eyes seemed haunted. "T-there…" she said weakly. "There was…a…a n-needle…" Her hand moved to the side of her neck, and she began to scratch there.

"Woah!" I said, jumping forward and grabbing Kira's hand. I pulled her hands behind her back to stop her from scratching.

She screamed and tried to get loose, but Katsumi acted quickly and helped me restrain her.

"KIRA!" Katsumi cried, so loudly that Kira stopped screaming and I let go of her arms. There was a brief moment of silence before Katsumi spoke again. "Kira-chan…"

"I'm going to bed early tonight," Kira said, going to the bedroom. "'Night."

"Uh…'night," I managed weakly. As soon as Kira closed the door, Katsumi turned to me.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" I answered.

"About Kira-chan."

"I dunno," I said. "It looks like she has…y'know. Hinamizawa Syndrome. Problem is, Kira-chan pulls tricks like this all the time. If this is a joke, I won't be surprised. I'll be angry, but not surprised."

Katsumi nodded. "We should keep an eye on her, though. It's going to be VERY hard to help Keiichi-san if Kira-chan tells him not to trust us."

I nodded, then smiled. "You're so…reasonable, Katsumi-chan. I think you're the only sane one in this town."

Katsumi smiled. "In a town like this, that's not saying much." She suddenly stood up. "Well, I have somewhere to go. Money doesn't make itself."

I blinked. "You have a job? Since when?"

Katsumi put on her coat. "Not exactly a job. But really, the food you eat doesn't just appear out of no where!"

I stared at her. "So…where does it come from?"

Katsumi walked over to me and bent down to my height. "My parents have a bank account set up for me," she whispered. "Don't ask me to explain exactly _how_ that's legal, but it's fairly convenient."

I nodded. "Okay. Why are we whispering?" I whispered back.

Katsumi raised her voice slightly and pointed to the bedroom door. "Kira-chan. I don't want her to have to worry about finance. She stresses out way too much in the first place."

I nodded, and Katsumi stood up and went for the door, waving goodbye. I waved cheerfully and went for the bedroom door.

I almost tripped over Kira when I slid the door open. She was huddled right in front of the door, hugging her knees, and sweating profusely.

I gave her a "look." "You were eavesdropping, weren't you?" I suppressed a smile. This was so _typical_ of her.

Kira looked up at me from her spot on the floor. "Where is Katsumi-chan going?"

I blinked. Katsumi obviously didn't want Kira worrying about our "family's" financial plans. "Nowhere," I said. "Just…going out."

Kira's glance wandered over to the window. It was already dark outside. "Where would Katsumi-chan have to go this time of night?"

"She just had some…business…to attend to." I could've said "She's working at Angel Mort and we didn't want you to know," but I was eager to change the subject. "Why do you ask? Are you worried about her?" I laughed. "That's sweet. You really do have a fluffy side!" I reached down to pat her on the head, but she swatted me away.

I blinked. "Touchy, touchy. If you're gonna be that way, I'm going to bed." I walked toward my bed, and got in.

"You go do that," Kira said, pulling out a notebook and scribbling in it. "I'll wait up for Katsumi-chan."

"Fluffy side!" I teased, laughing.

"Just shut up and leave me alone!" Kira snapped, rather harshly. She then turned on a reading light and continued scribbling in her notebook.

That'd better not be a Death Note, I thought as I turned off the main light and rolled over in bed. However, after about five minutes, I heard Kira sobbing sadly. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…"

--

I caught a cold. Blah…x.x

--

**Blitz12- **Yay constructive criticism! XD; Yep, I knew it was obvious when I got writer's block X3 Thanks!

**Teh Future Mrs. Kyo Sohma- **Yay KFC! XD I pressed the button on the fridge and ice came out! It was cold…x.x …That was one crazy dream last night. XD

**Icydragon14- **Shameless self-promotion…I like it:D

**Kira35- **-gasp- THREE UPDATES IN A MONTH…well, not really. XD I'm on a roll! -rolls off-

**Neokage Tokage- **XD That was the same question I asked…I honestly can't find an answer, but I guess I can take advantage of it! Saved me a lot of explaining… X3


	7. Paranoiahen Part 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, related characters, trademarks, etc. in any way, shape, form, or color. I also don't own _The Giver_, and I've forgotten who it's by. Skye is my own character, and Kira and Katsumi belong to my friends and are being used with permission.

Hey everyone. Sorry it's been so long. I've had school projects, then exams, then a school trip...and of course I've had a bad case of the Laziness. Yeah. Gotta watch out for that XD And Charlie the Unicorn 2. It's addicting... o.e

For anyone who forgot who Kaori is...she's in Touchaku-hen Part 4.

--

Life progressed as normal (if that's what you call it) for another week, with painfully early mornings, boring school, and club games afterwards. I insisted on cooking meals, as Kira refused to eat anything of Katsumi's after mysterious sharp objects appeared in the food she prepared for her. Katsumi took two days off work one day after she came home one day with her hair a mess and a haunted look in her eyes. Kira lost a game of Old Maid one day after school and was forced to wear frilly maid outfit in the punishment game; as a result, she spent the night at Rena's house, and would have stayed their longer if I hadn't called Rena and reminded her that kidnapping was illegal.

On the sixth morning, though, when I walked into school, I had a feeling that something special was going to happen. This was mostly due to the fact that Mion had jumped right in my face when I walked in and yelled, "Hey, guess what's happening tomorrow?" Huh. Strange how those things work.

I immediately thought of what Kaori had told me a week ago. "There's only one time I'll need to be awake, and that'll be the night of the Watanagashi festival."

The Watanagashi festival. That was a week from that day. As in, tomorrow.

"Cultural Festival?" I responded to Mion, playing dumb.

"Nope! The Watanagashi Festival!" She made a pose as if she were praying. "It's a day where we put cotton balls into the river and thank them for keeping us warm in the winter as they drift away." I blinked.

"Sounds boring," Keiichi groaned. But I was no longer paying attention.

As Mion explained about ultra-club-games and doubly-evil punishment games, my mind was elsewhere, reliving the day exactly one week ago, when I had first met Kaori, my... guardian... god... spirit... _thing_.

"_I'll just sleep, dormant within you, while you go about as normal. There's only one time I'll need to be awake, and that'll be..." _Tomorrow night, from sunset until sunrise the next day. For a reason I didn't know of.

My eyes shifted uneasily to Kira and Katsumi, who returned my nervous gaze. So the deal was the same with them.

"So, Skye-chan...?" came Mion's voice, and I jumped.

"Nn?"

"Are you and your friends going to go to the festival?"

"Uhhhh...I dunno," I said, glancing once more at Kira and Katsumi. "I'll have to check with them. We might be...uh...busy, y'know?"

She didn't.

"Well, y'know, Katsumi-chan has her job..."

"Oh, that's right," Mion realized. "It does tend to get very busy there during the festival."

I blinked, realizing that I had never asked where Katsumi worked. "Tends to get busy...where?"

Mion giggled. "Oh, nowhere." She took a seat as Chie-sensei walked into the room and announced that class was beginning. "But think about it, okay?"

I nodded as school began.

--

"Hey, guys," I called, waving to Kira and Katsumi as the bell that signified the end of the school day chimed. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Kira and Katsumi nodded. I started to bring them out into the hall, where we could speak in private, when Rena spoke.

"Are you going to stay for the club games today? Are you?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but Katsumi beat me.

"I don't know. We figure we'll get some rest for all the excitement at the festival." After a pause, she added, "If we go."

"Okay, well, we hope you come," Satoko said, grinning. "Kira-chan in a maid outfit is a _lovely_ image!" She laughed her signature laugh, while Kira blushed angrily.

"Don't get mad at Satoko-chan," Rika said, smiling sweetly. "Nipa!"

Lastly, Keiichi smiled at us, and with my heart beat oddly quickening, I waved and we walked outside.

--

"So...are we going or not?" I asked my two friends once we were out in the hall. "It's really up to you..."

"I don't know," responded Katsumi. "The festival is pretty much an evening event, and none of us knows what will happen at sundown when..."

"Skye-chan." That was Kira-chan, but I barely heard her.

"But what if the night that our guardians...come out...is the Watanagashi festival night for a reason? What if they have something important to do there?"

"Skye-chan..."

"If we decide to stay in that night, and it turns out that they have something to do at the site of the festival, they can easily walk there. It's not far, they'd get there in 20 minutes, certainly before sunrise."

"But then how would we explain it to everyone else? 'Oh, yeah, we were gonna stay home, but we decided to come at the last minute.' Or rather...how would our _guardians_ explain it?"

"Skye-chan?"

"You make a good point..." Katsumi put her hand to her head. "Our guardians don't know the other club members very well... We'd probably get a lot of 'you were acting kind of strange last night' in the morning."

"Well," I sighed. "I think it would be best to go to the festival. See what happens, y'know. Learn from experi-"

"Skye!" The urgency in Kira's voice startled me, and I looked down at her. Her eyes were deeply troubled, and she was grabbing onto my sleeve tightly.

"I really, really, don't think we should go to the festival." She looked dead serious.

"Why?" I asked.

Kira looked guilty for a moment. "I think something really _bad _is going to happen at the festival. Something that wouldn't happen normally. Not just Keiichi killing...y'know. Something bad to us." She looked up at me. "To _me_," she stated more specifically.

"What do you mean?" Katsumi asked, peering curiously at Kira.

Kira flinched under our older friend's gaze, but recovered quickly. "Well, haven't you noticed how... _disturbed_... some of the girls have been acting. Particularly Rena-san and Mion-san..."

I shook my head in disbelief.

"Like, today in class," Kira explained wildly. "Didn't you notice Rena staring at me? She had the craziest look on her face..."

"Ugh." I sighed. "She probably thinks you're something cute to take home and put on her wall. I'll talk to her..." I said, and began to turn away, meaning to go back into the club room and speak to Rena, but Kira grasped my hand.

I was surprised. Kira rarely made physical contact with anyone. She didn't want anyone to take it the wrong way and give her the dreaded Hug.

"No, Skye-chan, it was a _different_ look." She shook her head, attempting to recall the incident. "Like, she wanted to see me suffer, but at the same time, like she saw me as a threat, someone who would get in her way. Someone who would have to be gotten rid of at all costs...

"I couldn't take it anymore. After class, I ran outside to the bathroom, and I... was sick." She blushed in embarrassment.

"But, even this morning, didn't you see? The way Mion was talking to you about the Watanagashi festival. It was like you two were...conspiring about something. And like Rena was asking if you'd show, or chicken out."

I almost laughed. "Don't be ridiculous, Kira-chan." I started to turn away, but then turned back. "But, wait...what are you getting at?"

"It's just...what if Keiichi was right? What if he doesn't actually have Hinamizawa Syndrome, but Rena and Mion _are_ dangerous?" I was taken aback. This was Kira. Kira, who laughed at Keiichi's plight when we watched DVDs and probably laughed at the end of _The Giver_. She wasn't scared of anything. And even if she was, she probably only took it 20 percent seriously.

To see her so serious, so haunted, so terrified, was startling, if not disturbing.

But what struck me most was not what she said about Keiichi. Her last sentence was barely audible, as if she were talking to herself, but I'm certain I made it out correctly:

"And what if _you're_ dangerous too?"

--

**icydragon14- **Yes, it IS fun...and fun is fun -heart symbol that FF won't let me make consisting of a less than sign and a 3-

**Kira35- **-gasps- Your fangirls send you GIFTS? That is TOTALLY not fair...XD And yes, I'm totally shaming you...come back from the middle of freaking nowhere already!

**Neokage Tokage- **Nyaa, if I told you about Katsumi's family I'd totally spoil the next arc (there's a little preview for you).

**japaneserockergirl- **Lol, ok, glad you thought it was ok at least. I'll totally read your fic when you write it :)

**Voron79- **X3 Thanks for the compliment. I originally was going to make my fic a bit more serious, too, but the humor and other stuff, like random conversations crept in because I watched too much Lucky Star XD. So I guess it's staying true to Higuashi... Horror + Girls + Humor and Cosplaying. Weird formula, come to think of it... o.O

**Ayumi Elric- **Same to you! :P

**Also Sprach Mina- **Yeah, you pretty much just have to stick with Higurashi, the confusing parts will all become clear soon. When I first started watching, I kept switching back and forth between episodes 4 and 5 going "Wait...wasn't he just dead...and now he's alive...but then he died...and now he's walking around...DX" XDThe translator I used is on freetranslations (dot) com. But that only translates into hiragana, katakana, and kanji, so to romanize it I use (okay, here it comes...)

animelab (dot) com (forward slash) anime (dot) manga (forward slash) translate

Just sub in the symbols for the words and eliminate the spaces and you're good! :)

If it doesn't work, though, just go to Google and search "anime romaji translator" and it should be the first one.


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